Door frame construction

ABSTRACT

A preformed door jamb assembly wherein the door jambs are formed of two spaced jamb members having casing members attached thereto and a door stop of elastomeric material extending between the door jamb members. The flexible door stop member is U-shaped in cross section and is attached between the jamb members, permitting the jamb members to be moved relative to each other to facilitate installation in a rough wall opening and to accomodate walls of different thicknesses.

United States Patent 451 Dec. 26, 1972 Frydenberg [54] DOOR FRAMECONSTRUCTION [72] Inventor: Donald V. Frydenberg, Arlington,

Tex.

[73] Assignee: Clary Corporation, San Gabriel,

Calif.

[22] Filed: May 3,1971

[21] Appl.No.: 139,772

52 U.S.Cl ..49/s0s,s 2/212 [51] lnt.Cl. ..E06b 1/04 [58] Field ofSearch..49/504,505;52/2l2 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I3,023,681 3/1962 Worson ..52/396X 2,651,813 9/1953 Alvarez, Jr. ..49/505 2,742,146 4/1956 Lester, .lr ..49/504X 3,328,919 7/1967Beasley,Jr.etal ..49/504X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,475,9872/1967 France ..504/

Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney-Fred N. Schwend [57] ABSTRACT Apreformed door jamb assembly wherein the door jambs are formed of twospaced jamb members having casing members attached thereto and a doorstop of rough wall opening and to accomodate walls of differentthicknesses.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures 1 DOOR FRAME CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to doorframes and has particular reference to prefabricated door frames.

2. Description of the Prior Art In recent years, in order to reducelabor costs and time required to construct buildings, various buildingcomponents or assemblies, such as door assemblies, have beenprefabricated at mills or other processing plants, where mass productiontechniques and more uniform assembly procedures can be employed. In thecase of door assemblies, the door is generally prehung in its frame.However, in order to fit the door frame within the rough opening in thewall panel, the casing members are generally supplied separately and arenailed in place after the partially complete door frame is mounted inplace in the door opening. This requires a certain amount of labor timein order to properly mount the casing members on the job, and requiresextra handling of such casing members. That is, the casing members mustbe handled as loose parts until assembled on the job. Also, after aperiod of time, the door or door frame may warp, resulting in animproper fit between the usual door stop and the door which may preventclosing of the door or may allow air drafts between the door and thedoor stop.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables the complete doorframe to be preassembled and thereafter installed in place at thebuilding site and comprises a flexible door stop member of generallyU-shaped cross section extending between two spaced door jamb members,permitting relative adjustment of the jamb members for different wallthicknesses and flexing of the door jamb members relative to each otherto facilitate installation. The flexible stop member also insuresintimate contact with the door, when closed, to reduce the possibilityof air drafts, heat loss, etc., regardless of warping of the door or itsframe and also reduces noise normally created by shutting the dooragainst a solid stop.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a doorassembly embodying a preferred form of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the upper lefthand corner of the doorassembly.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the door stop.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT shown in full lines in FIG. 2and an open position such as is illustrated by the dot-dash lines 14a. Acombined door handle and lock 19 of conventional construction enableslocking of the door in closed position.

The door jamb assemblies 11 and 12 and header jamb assembly 13 aresimilar in construction and each comprises a pair of spaced paralleljamb members 15 and 16. The jamb member 16 is preferably equal in widthto the thickness of the door 14.

According to the present invention, a flexible door stop generallyindicated at 17 is provided. The latter is molded or extruded of asuitable elastomeric material, such as vinyl or polypropylene plastic,and extends along the length of each pair jamb members.

The door stop comprises, in cross section, a pair of parallel spacedlegs 18 and 20 integrally connected by a semi-cylindrical connectingsection 21 having a thickness of approximately .050 inches. The legsextend along the facing edges 40 and 41 of the jamb members 15 and 16,respectively, while the connecting section 21 extends beyond the jambmembers so as to form a stop which the door 14 engages when closed.

In order to secure the door stop to the jamb members 15 and 16, strips22 and 23 are formed along the lengths of the legs 18 and 20,respectively, and extend at right angles thereto to fit in slots 24formed in the jamb members. The strips may be held in the slots 24 bysuitable adhesive and/or by nails, staples or other fastener elements 25which extend into the jamb members and through the strips.

Preferably, the strips are saw toothed in cross section, as shownparticularly at 29 in FIG. 4, to facilitate insertion into the slots 24in the event the latter are roughened or have small inwardly extendingsplinters or other projections which would otherwise block insertion ofthe strips.

A relatively thick and therefore somewhat stiff flange 26 extendsintegrally with the leg 18 along the length thereof and slideably fitsbetween a pair of similar flanges 27 and 28 formed along the oppositeleg 20. Such interfitting flanges are approximately twice the thicknessof the portion 21 andnormally hold the jamb member in parallel relationwith each other when in free standing position as shown in FIG. 1. Atthis time, the connecting portion 21 also yieldably holds the jambmembers in approximately proper spaced relation to each other. Becauseof their thickness, the flanges 26, 27, and 28 are stiffer than theconnecting portion 21 and tend to maintain the jamb members 15 and 16 inparallel relation with each other.

Casing members 30 and 31 are secured, as by a suitable adhesive andnails or staples 32, to the outer edges of the jamb members 15 and 16and extend on the sides thereof opposite the projecting portion 21 ofthe stop member 17 for ultimate engagement with the sides of a wallpanel.

From the above it will be seen usual rough the prehung door assembly iscompletely assembled as seen in FIG. 1' when delivered to the buildingsite, without requiring any associated loose parts which must beassembled and nailed after the door frame is in place.

In mounting the door frame in the usual door opening of a wallcomprising opening defining studs, i.e., 33, and plaster or wall boardsides 34 and 35, one or more of the jamb members 15 are deflected intopositions shown, for example, by the dot-dash lines 15a of FIG. 2,permitting the door frame to be radially fitted within the wall opening.In this case, the door stop yields suffidriven through the casingmembers and into the sides of the wall to secure the door frame inplace.

Spacing blocks, wedges orthe like (not shown) may if desired be fittedwithin the space 40 between the stud 33 and the jamb members an may besecured in place by nails driven through the jamb members.

It will be noted the connecting portion 21 of the door stop is flexibleenough to enable adjustment of the door jamb members relative to eachother to accommodate walls of varying thickness and yet function as adoor stop. Also, in view of its resilient nature, the projecting portion21 will arrest the door when closed, without undue noise and will forman effective sealagainst the door, to prevent air drafts, even thoughthe door or door frame may subsequently warp.

In order to facilitate construction of the door frame, the jambassemblies, including jamb members 15 and 16, door stop 17, and easingmembers 30 and 31 may be each preassembled and thereafter mitered, as at10, using a suitable saw. Finally, the two door jamb assemblies and theheader jamb assembly are suitably secured together at their mitered endsto form the door frame. I claim: 1. A door jamb assembly comprising apair of parallel jamb members spaced apart from each other,

said jamb members having longitudinally extending slots along respectivefacing edges thereof, an elongate door stop of flexible material,

said door stop having a pair of spaced legs extending therealong and adoor stop portion connecting said legs;

said legs extending along said facing edges of said jamb members,

strips integral with said legs and extending into said slots,

two spaced parallel flanges integral with one of said legs and extendingtherealong,

a third flange integral with the other of said legs and extending alongthe length of said other leg,

said third flange extending between said two first mentioned flanges andin sliding engagement therewith, v

said flanges being relatively stiffer than said door stop portion,

said door stop portion extending beyond said jamb members whereby toengage a door associated

1. A door jamb assembly comprising a pair of parallel jamb membersspaced apart from each other, said jamb members having longitudinallyextending slots along respective facing edges thereof, an elongate doorstop of flexible material, said door stop having a pair of spaced legsextending therealong and a door stop portion connecting said legs; saidlegs extending along said facing edges of said jamb members, stripsintegral with said legs and extending into said slots, two spacedparallel flanges integral with one of said legs and extendingtherealong, a third flange integral with the other of said legs andextending along the length of said other leg, said third flangeextending between said two first mentioned flanges and in slidingengagement therewith, said flanges being relatively stiffer than saiddoor stop portion, said door stop portion extending beyond said jambmembers whereby to engage a door associated with said door jambassembly, and means for fastening said strips in said slots.